Regarding third class medical reform, Huerta said the FAA is working "continuously and diligently" on improvements--but he cautioned the audience that "the pilot perspective is not the only perspective" on this issue.

John Kounis was a pilot, NASA engineer, world traveler, and an irrepressibly positive force in aviation who co-founded Pilot Getaways magazine with his brother, George, and turned it into an authoritative source for pilots in search of adventure. Kounis, 51, died suddenly on July 13, near his home in Glendale, California, about two weeks after returning from a Cessna 185 ferry flight to Malaysia.